On Western Sahara, UN Spokesman Tells Inner City Press He Hasn't Seen African Union's Letter: Hands-Off File?

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, April 7 -- The UN Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara, which has yet to hold any referendum, gets reviewed this month in the UN Security Council, with the UN's ambiguous, some say shamefully ambiguous, position on (not) including human rights monitoring in the mission's mandate once again coming to the fore. 

  On April 7, Inner City Press asked UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon's spokesman Stephane Dujarric about a letter sent to Ban by the Chairperson of the African Union Commission, Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, which cites “ the need to provide MINURSO with a human rights mandate” and concludes

“I would be most grateful if you could share this letter and the accompanying communiqué and report with the President of the Security Council, to be circulated as official documents of the Council, as well as with the General Assembly. Your assistance in ensuring that AU Special Envoy Joachim Chissano is given the opportunity to address the Security Council during its April 2015 meeting on Western Sahara will also be highly appreciated.”

  Inner City Press asked Dujarric if the letter has been circulated, and for Ban Ki-moon's position including on Chissano addressing the Security Council.

  Dujarric replied, “I haven't personally seen the letter” adding that if it contains the request, “I'm sure it will be circulated in due time.” But how much time is due? And hasn't Ban's chief of staff Malcorra seen the letter? What's the response? When does it go to the Security Council - and General Assembly?

   “As for people addressing the Council, that's up to the Council,” Dujarric said, though Ban has on other topics been critical of the Security Council. 

   Dujarric said that the report is in progress; when Inner City Press pointed out that Ban often touts the importance of regional organization, Dujarric said “in all files we deal with regional organization have a role to play, but in Western Sahara there is a Security Council mandate.” That's true on most of Ban Ki-moon's files. Why so hands-off on this one? Consider that UN Peacekeeping, in charge of MINURSO, is run by the fourth Frenchman in a row, Herve Ladsous, who refuses all Press questions, on human rights issues from rapes in the Congo and Darfur to killings BY peacekeepers in Mali.Video here, Vine here.  We'll have more on this.

The UN's ambiguous position on Western Sahara was exemplified last month by UN adviser Philippe Douste-Blazy attending the Crans-Montana Forum in Dakhla, Western Sahara. 

  After the UN said Douste-Blazy was there in his "personal capacity," Inner City Press on March 16 asked if Douste-Blazy and UN advisers like him are under a responsibility to make clear when they are not representing the UN.

  It "behooves" them, UN deputy spokesperson Farhan Haq told Inner City Press, reiterated that while Douste-Blazy is UN adviser on "innovative financing," he has not there for the UN. Haq would not answer if Douste-Blazy had told the UN in advance, saying only that he is not required to.

  But a press release about the event says:

"The annual session of Crans Montana Forum held from 12 to 14 March 2015 in the southern city of Dakhla under the Patronage of His Majesty Mohammed VI wrapped up, Saturday night, with an award ceremony that paid tribute to international figures from different backgrounds. The 2015 Foundation Award was awarded to former President of the Republic of Estonia (2001-2006), Arnold Ruutel, former Spanish Prime Minister (2004-2011), José Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, Deputy Secretary General of the United Nations, Philippe Douste Blazy, former French Minister of Ecology and Sustainable Development (2007-2010), Jean Luis Borloo."

 So apparently Douste-Blazy accepted an award there AS a UN official. Now what?

For days, Inner City Press had been asked to find out what Douste-Blazy was doing there. Inner City Press previously exposed Douste-Blazy's waste of funds through MassiveGood, here. Then this, from the UN Spokesperson's Office:

"We have noted press reports to the effect that the United Nations is participating in the Crans-Montana Forum currently being held in Dakhla, a city in that part of Western Sahara under Moroccan control.

"The Secretary-General was invited to this Forum, but informed its President that he could not attend.  He did not delegate Mr. Philippe Douste-Blazy or anyone else to represent him or the United Nations.  Mr. Douste-Blazy, who serves as a special adviser to the Secretary-General on innovative financing, is attending exclusively in his private capacity.

"While Dakhla is described in Forum materials as a city in Morocco, the definitive status of Western Sahara is the object of a negotiating process being conducted under the auspices of the Secretary-General in accordance with the relevant United Nations resolutions."

  Well there's that. And this, and before that, this. Douste-Blazy is, of course, a former French government official. But how much longer should he be a UN "adviser"?

  Earlier this year after Ban spoke by phone with the King of Morocco, on February 11 Ban's spokesman Stephane Dujarric said:

"on the status of Christopher Ross, the Personal Envoy of the Secretary-General for Western Sahara.  I can report that he arrived in Rabat today.  Mr. Ross will hold discussions with Morocco and the Frente Polisario and with the neighboring States during this mission."

  But will Ross, the Envoy FOR Western Sahara, actually visit Laayoune? Inner City Press asked:

Inner City Press: On Mr. Ross' visit, I wanted to know whether he in fact will go to Laayoune, the main city in Western Sahara.  Maybe I missed when you read it out.

Spokesman Dujarric:  I will get you… as I said, as we get details, we'll get them to you.

Inner City Press:  If he's not, can we find out why he's not?

Spokesman Dujarric:  Sure.  

  So far, seven hours later, nothing. This is the UN and Western Sahara. Back on November 21 asked the New York spokesman for High Commissioner for Human Rights Prince Zeid for

"an update on action on the leaked cables, related to Western Sahara, involving current OHCHR official Anders Kompass and one, previously head of OHCHR's office in NY, who's just left. What steps has OHCHR taken on the cables / issues?"

  Now two months and three weeks later there has been no answer on this from the OHCHR spokesperson in New York. But we published this response from OHCHR Geneva spokesperson Rupert Colville to similar questions:

From: Rupert Colville [at] ohchr.org
Date: Friday 12 December 2014
Subj: Investigation leaked cables Western Sahara and OHCHR

The investigation is being carried out, at our request, by the Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS) in New York, which is an operationally independent office that assists the Secretary-General in fulfilling his internal oversight responsibilities. While the investigation is under way, there is nothing else I can say on the matter.

  On January 29, Carman Lapointe the head of OIOS wrote:

"Our operating policies do not allow OIOS to provide information on whether we are investigating any matter, and so you will need to continue to consult OHCHR on this topic.

"In general terms, however, I can say that when/if we receive allegations of leaked confidential documents, we would advise that investigations into leaks of confidential documents are very challenging for OIOS to substantiate.  As you may be aware, OIOS has authority to conduct only administrative investigations, and we have very limited (and no coercive) powers.  Unless staff members involved in leaks admit or confess, or the leaks are undertaken blatantly using United Nations assets that we can examine forensically (such as by an attachment to an email from a UN computer or other device) we would have no jurisdiction to pursue further. "

  Combined with this new scandal uncovered by Inner City Press, about the sale of posts in UN Peacekeeping under Herve Ladsous, the above gives little confidence.

 Meanwhile on January 23 the UN issued this read out:

"The Secretary-General spoke with His Majesty King Mohammed VI of Morocco on Thursday, January 22.  He expressed appreciation for Morocco’s valuable support of the activities of the United Nations, particularly in peacekeeping and in a number of critical issues in Africa and the Middle East.

"On Western Sahara, the Secretary-General acknowledged Morocco’s concerns about the UN-sponsored negotiations between the Kingdom of Morocco and the Frente Polisario.  He confirmed that reports to the Council on this issue will remain objective and reflect facts.  He also reiterated that the UN Mission in Western Sahara, MINURSO, will continue to exercise its existing mandate as set forth by the Security Council.

"In response, His Majesty indicated that Morocco looks forward to moving ahead in collaboration with the United Nations and that Morocco’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations will be working with the Secretary-General’s Personal Envoy, Christopher Ross, to arrange his next visit to Morocco as soon as possible, as well as with the Secretary-General’s Special Representative and Head of MINURSO, Kim Bolduc, to facilitate her rapid deployment to the region."

  So how long will that take?

  The UN system often uses the pendency of an investigation as a way to wait for the “problem” to go away. As the publication Tel Quel, here, has noted, many in the media are not covering the leaks.

  Relatedly, the leaks are now being covered up or censored. Two recent uploads, about Morocco and the African Group at the UN, were put on “ filefactory.com” -- then taken down after, the site says, a complaint under the US Digital Millennium Copyright Act.

  This is a new trend -- attempt to use copyright law to take down leaked documents. Reuters, for example, filed a “for the record” complaint with the UN trying to get Inner City Press thrown out - then, when the “for the record” complaint was leaked and published, conned Google into blocking it from Search, calling it copyrighted. Click here for that.

So that media uses or abuses copyright to censor its own “for the record” complaint filed with the UN, and does not cover these new leaks about Western Sahara, Morocco, and the UN. This is a new trend. Watch this site.

  In the above, the referenced former head of OHCHR's New York office is Senegal's Bacre Waly Ndiaye, noted Tijania Sufi. The cables reveal a deep scandal in the UN system. Now OHCHR in Geneva is saying it will not comment until an investigation, Inner City Press understands by the UN Office of Internal Oversight Services, is complete. But there is no indication that will be publish. This is one of the ways the UN covers up.

 There other ways, beyond Western Sahara. On rapes in DR Congo by Army units the UN support, Ladsous refused to answer Press questions for months. Video here of then and now spokesman pulling microphone away from Inner City Press. These practices are being opposed by the new Free UN Coalition for Access.

 Now on UN Peacekeeping's November 9 press release covering up mass rape in Thabit in Darfur, Ladsous has not answered any questions; UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric on November 21 told Inner City Press the UN won't comment on leaks. The Western Sahara leaks are so extensive that despite a seeming media blackout by Western wire services, they will not go away. 

While Ladsous is not the only UN official exposed by the cables, his extraordinary campaign of refusing Press questions, to the point of physically blocking Press filming (Vine here), as well as a DPKO to OHCHR connection, make him key to the case. As to MINURSO, Ladsous is blamed for the non-deployment of Bolduc. 

  Back on November 14 Inner City Press asked UN Deputy Spokesperson Farhan Haq about Bolduc and an investigation of leaks in Geneva of which sources tell it. Video here.

  On November 5, Inner City Press reported on leaked cables showing among other things the UN's Ladsous undermining MINURSO on the issue of human rights, and improper service of Morocco by Office of the High Commissioner of Human Rights staffers Anders Kompass and Bacre Waly Ndiaye.

    Since then, along with anonymous death threats, Inner City Press has received additional information including of a UN Office of Internal Oversight Services investigation of Anders Kompers and Bacre Waly Ndiaye.

  On November 14, Inner City Press asked the UN's Haq, per UN transcript:

Deputy Spokesman Haq:  You had a question on Western Sahara?

Inner City Press: It's a two-pronged question.  What Stéphane [Dujarric] said earlier in the week about Kim Bolduc, the new SRSG [Special Representative of the Secretary-General].  I wanted to just kind of confirm it.  In reading it, does that mean that she has never has been allowed in?  And, if so, where has she been since August?  What is the plan to resolve that?  And I also wanted to ask you about regarding the cables that I base the initial question on.  Can you confirm that OIOS [Office for Internal Oversight Services] is conducting an investigation at the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights on at least two staff members who apparently leaked this information to the Moroccan Government?

Deputy Spokesman Haq:  On that, I cannot confirm that.  As you know, the OIOS conducts its work independently.  At some point, once they have completed their work, they apprise us [inaudible].  But I wouldn't be aware of any work that is ongoing.  Beyond that, regarding Kim Bolduc, as you know, both Christopher Ross and Kim Bolduc briefed the Security Council on 27 October.  And at that point, the Security Council reiterated its desire, first of all, to see Ambassador Ross's facilitation resume and reiterated its desire to see Kim Bolduc be able to take up her duties at the helm of MINURSO [United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara] as soon as possible.  And we look forward to the resumption of Mr. Ross's visit to the region and also to the deployment of Kim Bolduc.

Inner City Press:  But is she currently, I mean, she is the SRSG?

Deputy Spokesman Haq:  She is the SRSG, but she has not been able to function with her MINURSO duties in-country.

  In-country, eh? We'll have more on this. And on this: Inner City Press is informed that while Ladsous claims to have performed as required in connection with the appointment of Bolduc, even on this he is accused of failing to do his duty, as on many other parts of his job. Video compilation here; recent Vine here.

   Document leaks from inside the UN have identified improper service of Morocco, on the question of Western Sahara, by a staffer at the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Anders Kompass.

  Inner City Press has waited to report on them; the spokesperson for the High Commissioner has today said his office is aware the leaked cables, which contain the perspective of certain diplomats, and that the situation is being investigated to clarify the facts.”

  Whatever the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, now under Jordan's Prince Zeid, does about the content of the leaks, more will be required in the UN Secretariat in New York -- particularly at the top of the Department of Peacekeeping Operations, which runs the MINURSO mission in Western Sahara.

  The cables show that Herve Ladsous, a long-time French diplomat now the boss of DPKO and thus of MINURSO, was flacking for Morocco on the supposed quality of its human rights mechanisms. This directly undercuts the MINURSO mission, for which Ladsous is supposed to be working.

  African Union members of the Security Council, from Uganda to South Africa to Nigeria, have demanded that MINURSO have the same type of human rights monitoring mechanism as the UN Peacekeeping missions in the DR Congo, Mali and Central African Republic. 

  Now Ladsous is exposed undermining extending this to Western Sahara -- the policy of his country, France, but undercutting DPKO.

  During General Assembly debate week in September 2014, Ladsous refused to answer Press questions and ended up blocking the Press' camera, Vine here.

  This is a scandal. And since Ladsous had refused to answer Press questions, about rapes by his mission's partners in the DRC, about DPKO bringing cholera to Haiti, about under-reporting attacks on civilians and even peacekeepers in Darfur and now Central African Republic, it is time for the question to be asked. 

Update: on November 6, Inner City Press asked UN Spokesman Stephane Dujarric about this, video here.

  Immediately after the briefing, Inner City Press emailed Dujarric the cable it had asked about. Watch this site.

   

Are Forced Exile, Madagascar & French Influence Not on UN Map?

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, May 14 -- There was a time that Madagascar was important to the UN, at least enough so to be included in the so-called horizon briefings by the UN Secretariat to the Security Council.

But these days, amid growing controversy in and about Madagascar, the UN has little to say, and says it late. At the noon briefing on May 13, Inner City Press asked Secretary General Ban Ki-moon's spokesman Martin Nesirky:

Inner City Press: On the Madagascar question, is, is, there has been since I last asked this, the SADC (Southern African Development Community) has come out and said that three candidates, they are encouragedto withdraw their candidacies, saying they are not consistent with the road map. This is Mr. [Andry] Rajoelina, also Lalao Ravalomanana and another candidate. And so, one, I wanted to know if there is a UN response to that, but two, since Ms. Ravalomanana is being barred for having been out of the country, and this was a forced exile by the Government, I am wondering whether the UN has any view on forced exile, that being used as a basis to bar a candidate from running.

Spokesperson Nesirky: We can check for you on that, Matthew. I don’t have anything right now.

  This exchange took place at Monday's noon briefing (video here, from Minute 22:15), and three hours later Inner City Press was again told that it was being looked into. And perhaps there is already an answer. But none has yet been provided to Inner City Press, as of Tuesday morning.

  And so we'll report: the third candidate mentioned is Didier Ratsiraka. For Rajoelina, the criticism is that he filed his candidacy papers after the 28 April deadline but was nevertheless approved by the Special Electoral Court (CES). He also broke the pledge he made in January 2013 to not be a candidate.

  For Lalao Ravalomanana, who filed her candidacy papers on April 25, the UN told Inner City Press on April 29, “It is up to the Special Electoral Court, which is in charge of receiving electoral disputes and proclaiming the final results of the presidential and legislative elections, to decide on the validity and qualifications of all prospective candidates”. Similarly, SADC mediator Joaquim Chissano said on May 2 that Lalao Ravalomanana’s candidature “is a matter to be seen by the Special Electoral Court."

  But after the CES decided on May 3 that Lalao Ravalomanana is officially a candidate, France announced on May 6 its “deception” on learning that the CES accepted Lalao Ravalomanana’s candidature.

In its May 10 communiqué, SADC “expressed grave concern on the decision of the Special Electoral Court to endorse illegitimate candidatures for the forthcoming Presidential elections in violation of the Malagasy Constitution and the Electoral Law.”

  The CES defended its decision to accept the legitimacy of Lalao Ravalomanana’s candidature by saying that her absence from Madagascar resulted from circumstances and events independent of her will that prevented her from enjoying her right to return to her country, despite repeated expression of her desire to return.

  In fact, Lalao Ravalomanana returned to her country on July 27, 2012, but was promptly kicked out of the country by armed security forces.

  The SADC roadmap requires that all political exiles be allowed “to return to the country unconditionally”. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights includes the right to return to one’s country as a basic human right. So to maintain, as France and SADC do, that Mrs. Ravalomanana’s candidacy is not legitimate is to condone forced exile as a means for preventing someone from taking part in the political life of their nation.

And so, again: What is the UN’s position regarding Mrs. Ravalomanana’s forced exile in July 2012? Does the UN consider forced exile to be a legitimate reason for barring a person from being a candidate for election in his or her country?

Watch this site.

ICC Can't Provide Assurance to LRA's Kony, Despite Ugandan Promise and Chissano's

By Matthew Russell Lee
www.innercitypress.com/icclra1egg071709.html

UNITED NATIONS, July 16 -- Civilians continue to be chopped up and kidnapped and rape by the Lord's Resistance Army while a peace agreement lies unsigned, largely because its seeming promise that LRA leader Joseph Kony would be tried in Uganda and not by the International Criminal Court in The Hague cannot be substantiated. The UN's outgoing envoy to the LRA affected areas Joaquim Chissano on July 17 told Inner City Press that Kony should rest assured that the peace agreement provides for his trial in Uganda, not the Hague. But there is no way to know if the ICC judges in The Hague will accept the Ugandan's process as sufficient to drop the ICC warrant.

Inner City Press asked the President of the Assembly of State Parties of the ICC and its Rome Statute, Liechtenstein Ambassador Christian Wenaweser if the ICC could somehow pre-certify Uganda's process as complementary, and likely to replace the ICC warrants. Wenaweser replied that "It is the job of the ICC to look at the national judicial process.. I don't know how you can do that in an effective way before they are actually underway." Video here, from Minute 19:15.

This calls into question the statements of Chissano, and of Uganda's Ambassador to the UN Ruganda that Kony would face justice in Uganda, not the Hague. Actually, there is no way to know. Realistically, it is not surprising that Joseph Kony would not sign and turn himself in under these circumstances.

Why hasn't the ICC developed a procedure to pre-certify countries' procedures as complimentary, to avoid this chicken and egg standoff in which more and more civilians are killed? Some think that the leaders of the international criminal justice movement are more concerned with their own purity of concept than with the realities of more and more dead civilians. Watch this site.

Footnote: Inner City Press asked Chissano if Kony still has his cell phone number. Yes, Chissano said, before adding that he was returning a phone to the UN unless and until his mandate is re-activated. Is that the cell phone that Kony would call, Inner City Press asked. No, Chissano said, he has my other number. But he never calls it. Video here.

And see, www.innercitypress.com/icclra1egg071709.html

At UN, Voiceless Chissano Ends "Useless" Outreach to LRA, Looks to Madagascar

By Matthew Russell Lee
www.innercitypress.com/scjuly2ruganda071509.html

UNITED NATIONS, July 15 -- Despite former UN humanitarian coordinator Jan Egeland and others calling for the UN to remain involved in trying to mediate between Uganda and the Lord's Resistance Army rebels, on Wednesday the UN's envoy to the LRA affected areas Joaquim Chissano gave a final briefing under the mandate to the Security Council, and "stepped down" from his post.

After the closed down Council session, Inner City Press and BBC Afrique asked Mr. Chissano to explain his reasoning. I am voiceless, Chissano said, pointing at his throat. A UN official with him, Africa I Deputy Director Margaret Vogt, told the Press "we can deal with that later."

When the Council's President for July, Uganda's Ambassador Ruhakana Ruganda, came to read out an oral press statement by the Council, he was asked how Chissano briefed the Council if his voice was so weak. He was clear, Ruganda replied. Inner City Press asked Ruganda to respond to what another Council Ambassador told the Press earlier, that ending Chissano's mission sent the message that the military solution to the LRA is viewed as the only solution. Video here, from Minute 1:40.

No, Ruganda said, the military action of DRC and Uganda takes place alongside efforts to make Kony sign a peace agreement, "to remind" him of the need to sign. Inner City Press asked if it is true that Kony demands that the ICC and its chief prosecutor Moreno Ocampo come and explain what will happen on the ICC's warrant against him, before he considers signing.

Ruganda said that Kony would have accountability mechanisms in Uganda. Inner City Press asked, Not the Hague? Ruganda repeated, in Uganda.

At Wednesday's UN noon briefing, Inner City Press asked UN spokesperson Michele Montas if Chissano's UN office in Kampala will close. Yes, Ms. Montas said, adding that Chissano had felt ill and couldn't speak at the stakeout. What about Egeland's critique -- does Chissano still have a role? Video here, from Minute 14:12.

Not at this point, Mr. Montas said. Who in the UN if anyone is reaching out to Kony, Inner City Press asked. Why end the effort at this time?

Ms. Montas said the UN "stopped what had become useless." If so, it would be a first.

The DRC's Ambassador to the UN told Inner City Press last week that at least Chissano stopped, closed the office and save the UN money, "unlike Obasanjo," he said, referring to the other Great Lakes mandate for the UN of the former Nigerian president....

Footnote: one would have liked to ask Chissano about any relation between his stepping down on the LRA and accepting another mediation job, for SADC, regarding Madagascar, trying to convince persuade what on Honduras is called "coup leader" Rajoelina and his Prime Minister Albert Zafy to meet with deposed President Ravalomanana and with his predecessor, Didier Ratsiraka. It is worth comparing the UN's stance on Madagascar's coup with that it has adopted on Honduras. Watch this site.

And see, www.innercitypress.com/scjuly2ruganda071509.html

On Congo, Obasanjo On Relocating Nkunda and FDLR, Bosco "In Circulation" in Congo

Byline: Matthew Russell Lee of Inner City Press at UN
www.innercitypress.com/drc2obasanjo063009.html

UNITED NATIONS, June 30 -- Amid reports from the Democratic Republic of the Congo of the FDLR rebels rampaging in the Kivus, the Lord's Resistance Army killing and kidnapping and the UN collaborating, at least indirectly, with indicted war criminal Jean-Bosco Ntaganda, the UN's envoy to the Great Lakes Olusegun Obasanjo answered a half dozen questions from Inner City Press on this topics on Tuesday.

Inner City Press asked him if he is involved in talks to relocate Bosco's former boss Laurent Nkunda from house arrest in Rwanda to a third country. Obasanjo laughed. "You seem to be leading the minds of the two leaders," he said. "You are close to what they are thinking." Video here, from Minute 12:21.

Also being considered for relocation, according to Obansanjo, are some 1500 fighters from the FDLR. Obasanjo said they could be moved further away from Rwanda. Inner City Press asked, inside the DRC? Yes, Obansanjo said. But who would take them? Who would want a known militia group? Video here from Minute 11:54. Obasanjo replied that they would not have guns. Then again, those are not necessarily difficult to find.

Inner City Press asked Obasanjo about the UN ending the Lord's Resistance Army mandate of former president of Mozambique Chissano. Obansanjo appeared surprised that it is ending, and said that all mandates can be renewed. Video here from Minute 9:16. But this one seems over: Chissano has moved on. And what plan does the UN have?

Obasanjo acknowledged that Bosco is "not out of circulation." Inner City Press asked Secretary General Ban Ki-moon's spokesperson Michele Montas, in light of a damning op-ed in the Washington Post, what the UN is doing to ensure that it does not work even indirectly with the indicted war criminal, and even helps apprehend him. That is the job of the Congolese authorities, Ms. Montas said. Over whom the UN, after spending billions of dollars, have no say?

Footnote: Obasanjo referred to a joint Rwandan - Congolese methane gas project in Lake Kivu. As Inner City Press previously reported, contracting issues have dogged Obasanjo since his tenure in Nigeria. But we can return to that topic in the future. On Tuesday, he spoke more clearly about the Congo than anyone else at the UN.

And see, www.innercitypress.com/drc2obasanjo063009.html

On Sri Lanka, UN's Holmes Contradicts His Colleague's Caution, Sudan Double Standard?

Byline: Matthew Russell Lee of Inner City Press at UN
www.innercitypress.com/untrip4may4srilanka061109.html

UNITED NATIONS, June 11 -- During the bloody conflict and humanitarian crisis in Sri Lanka this year, most often UN Headquarters, personified by humanitarian chief John Holmes, has sounded more cautionary notes about government conduct than has UN staff in Colombo, who face deportation or denial of visa renewals.

On Thursday, however, Holmes was decidedly more pro-government than the UN's local spokespeople, at least Mark Cutts, who expressed concern that now people will be kept in the UN-funded internment camps for up to a year. Inner City Press asked Holmes, who chose to disagree.

"I don't think anything has changed," Holmes said, repeating the government's statement that 80% of those detained will be allowed out of the camps by the end of 2009.

Holmes told Inner City Press that there have for months been some semi-permanent structures in the Manik Farm camps, made of "zinc sheeting, you probably saw them yourself when you were there." Inner City Press did see the zinc structures, along with barbed wire and armed guards.

Holmes had been briefing the UN Security Council about the situation in Sudan, with a focus on the international NGOs whose international staff members were ordered out on March 4, after Sudan's president Omar al Bashir was indicted for war crimes by the International Criminal Court. When Holmes came to speak to the Press, his assistant announced that questions should "keep to Sudan, wider issues will be address by the Secretary General in his press conference later."

As Inner City Press has reported in recent days, Secretary General Ban Ki-moon's spokespeople now say they will not comment on developments in Sri Lanka such as the deporting of Canadian MP Bob Rae, the extension of state of emergency anti-terror laws, and the country's outgoing chief justice's statement that those in the UN-funded internment camps have no protection from Sri Lanka's courts. That's a national issue, was the answer of Ban's spokespeople.

Since Holmes focused, to the Council and press, on NGOs in Sudan, Inner City Press asked about the recent expulsion or exclusion from Sri Lanka of international staff from the Norwegian Refugee Council, Forut, CARE and Save the Children, among others. Holmes had just mentioned moves to re-admit both CARE and Save the Children (as well as Mercy Corps and "something not really an NGO, called PADCO") to Sudan.

"It is hard to make comparisons between the two," Holmes said, apparently referring to restrictions in Sudan and Sri Lanka. "NGOs have not been expelled from Sri Lanka... There have been some visa issues for some members of NGOs' staff which we take up with the government."

Holmes said UN agencies "have difficulties from time to time." Among those difficulties was the detention by the government of Sri Lanka of UN staff and their families, something Sudan has not done.
Whistleblowers raised the issue to Inner City Press, after which Holmes said the UN had been complaining behind the scenes. In Sudan, the UN complains publicly. In fact, the government of Sri Lanka stated that the UN had not complained about its detained staff until after the issue was raised publicly by the Press in New York.

It is hard to make comparisons between the two -- the UN is loud in its criticism of any move against UN staff in Sudan, while it stayed silent as UN staff were held in detention by the government of Sri Lanka. How then to read Holmes' upbeat assessment on Thursday? We will continue to inquire.

Footnotes: Regarding Sudan, Inner City Press asked Holmes why UN envoy Chissano has ended his attempt to solve the problem of the Lord's Resistance Army. Holmes said Chissano "will end or has ended" this work because it is "not a very realistic hope" that Kony will sign a peace deal with the Yoweri Museveni government of Uganda. What next?

Inner City Press is informed that, in closed door consultations, Western Council members such as Croatia insisted that there is a wider "humanitarian gap" in Sudan than even Holmes would portray. Holmes and the UN apparently feel no such pressure regarding the situation in Sri Lanka, and therefore revert to the path of least resistance, trying to not criticize the government despite what's happening to civilians. Watch this site.

And see, www.innercitypress.com/untrip4may4srilanka061109.html

At UN, Chissano Says Council Ready to Defer to Uganda on Kony, ICC as Well

Byline: Matthew Russell Lee of Inner City Press at UN
www.innercitypress.com/un5lra062008.html

UNITED NATIONS, June 20 -- As the Lord's Resistance Army rampages through the Congo, Southern Sudan and the Central African Republic, the UN's envoy to the LRA-affected areas Joaquim Chissano briefed the Security Council on Friday. Afterwards he told Inner City Press that "the Council was ready to consider any decision taken by the government of Uganda" to suspend the indictment of the LRA's Joseph Kony by the International Criminal Court, and put Kony on trial in Uganda instead. Video here, from Minute 7:55.

Inner City Press asked, why then has Kony not signed the peace agreement? Chissano said that perhaps "Kony needs clarification." Chissano said that recent attacks in Southern Sudan and the Congo are "clearly LRA," and that those in the Central African Republic are "probably" LRA, the "evidence" points that way. Video here, from Minute 3:53. Then Chissano left the stakeout, surrounded by an entourage which did not permit any follow-up questions. Why is there so little talk about the acts of the government of Uganda?

The person who Chissano named as representing Kony, David Matsanga, has said

"We can use the United Nations Security Council resolution and chapter seven to go to the UN Security Council, which the government of Uganda should do as a referral state, to say the UN Security Council, please, the warrants are a threat. Can you remove them from us so that general Joseph Kony and others can come and sign and walk free and assemble and do things? But he has said he is not going to sign an agreement in Juba because he does not feel safe over there."

Unlike other prosecutorial offices, the ICC appears to make a major distinction based on where its cases come from. If referred by a government, that government retains control to turn the process off and "take it home." That this can imply impunity was not, according to Chissano, much of a concern. Some call it double standard.

And see, www.innercitypress.com/un5lra062008.html